Message From Another Walk of Life – Omar Lopez

I am back with another “Message from Another Walk of Life” segment to share!

This time I interviewed Omar Lopez who is assistant principle of Instruction at KIPP Austin Public School.

I personally found this interview so inspiring. I feel like teachers are essential and that a good teacher can completely change your life. Take my sister for example. One amazing music teacher in high school inspired her to become one herself and now she is making positive impact in more children’s lives.

If you haven’t seen the video please go see it! You can click here or you can see it below

As mentioned in the video if you are in Texas or know someone who is in Texas and can help the school you can reach out to them by going on their website contact page here.

I don’t have much more to say for this post. I think the video pretty much sums it up and shows the power of a good educator or teacher. I also think it is important to mention the amount of work that goes into lesson prep and teaching. Like Omar said a teacher had many hats and drawing from my experience as camp coordinator and my sisters stories I know that someone who is passionate will go above and beyond to make sure the children are happy and learn. There is so many stories and examples of this where for example teachers buy supplies with their own money ( like my grandfather did as a teacher himself, when he used to buy lunches for kids who didn’t have any) and I think after talking to Omar it just reminded me how much of an impact we can make on those around us each and every day.

So to close this post I will show you the two bonus answers that Omar kindly answered for me.

1) What gives you hope for the future of children who might struggle at school and/or the future of education as a tool for empowerment?

In this country there is a huge gap in our education system. Students in low income communities tend to not have the same opportunities as other students who come from high income families. My mission is to empower our students by giving them the tools to become a productive member in our society so that one day they can come back to their neighborhoods and help us close the opportunity gap.

2) Where there any experiences or events in your life that lead you to wanting to have your current job?

When I went to college, I went with the mentality that I needed to graduate with a degree that will allow me to find a job in which I could make a lot of money. As I joined the Penn State Dance Marathon, in which they raise money to support families that have children who have cancer, I realized that my passion was helping families and children. That’s when I learned about Teach for America and discovered that I could continue helping families after I graduated from College. Now my passion is in education and helping close the achievement gap in this country.

So that’s it for today! Until next time, be part of a Powered Crowd and create some positive change!